I signed up to do BlogHer book reviews for several reasons. 1. So I'll sit down and read again, as I really do love to read and 2. So that by sitting down to read I'll get used to reading with my bifocals - something I'm still not used to. It takes me time.
I'm also very particular about which books I reply that I'm interested in. If I'm going to put on the dreaded bifocals, then I better at least hope to like the book. I signed up for Slow Love with this hope, as the summarizing appealed to me.
When the book arrived in the mail, I was instantly pleased. It is a book I would have picked up in the library. I love the size, I love the texture of the cover, I love the quality of the uneven pages. It came just in time for me to pop it into my bag for a day full of appointments and waiting rooms.
As I began reading the book, I struggled to find a plot or storyline. I thought perhaps it was because of waiting room interruptions, but trying again at home, I was unable to grab onto a thread that would take me seamlessly from chapter to chapter. However, if I read each chapter individually, it was easier for me to follow.
In following Dominique's chapters from her job loss (she was editor-in-chief of House and Garden for 13 years) and life changes into happiness, I found that I connected more with some chapters than others. The chapter I dog eared the most (kids in the home isn't conducive to my preferred method of bookmarking with post-it notes - they think it's a game to move them around) was Cooking for One. Odd that I would connect most with that chapter when I cook for six, but she shared how there is a LOT of cooking in a marriage and what a dream the crock pot is when it enables you to wake up from a two hour yoga corpse pose and still have dinner on the table on time. I tagged a lot of similar passages that helped assure me that my chaotic and busy lifestyle isn't too far off the beaten path.
Or as Dominique shared near the end of the book when she's arriving closer to peace and love, "All I know is that, once again, I have the illusion that my life is in order. And sometimes that's as good as it gets."
As a book providing inspiration how to handle job loss, divorce and finding a new path and happiness in life? Meh. But as a book for providing bits of quick and easy witticism and the assurance that I am not the only one who displays my baking ingredients on the counter in height order - perfect.
